I found the control input windows way too wide. If you want to be able to just mash to win, this is a suitable system I guess, but I prefer much tighter/more responsive control systems.

Can you compare this to say, Shenmue (1 and 2 if you feel they were different in this respect) and Batman Arkham Asylum (or Arkham City)? In addition to what you mention, I'm curious as to how the game transitions from walking/running to fighting in terms of how the movement controls feel.

Can you compare this to say, Shenmue (1 and 2 if you feel they were different in this respect) and Batman Arkham Asylum (or Arkham City)? In addition to what you mention, I'm curious as to how the game transitions from walking/running to fighting in terms of how the movement controls feel.

Absolutely.
Shenmue 1 and 2 (1 especially) were vastly superior games, that may have not allowed the same amount of freedom in terms of explorable area and opportunities for violence, however the fighting mechanics were TIGHT.

Batman Arkham Asylum/City are definitely a much closer comparison to Sleeping Dogs, and in many ways they are similar, however the combat in Sleeping Dogs feels like a low-rent version of the Batman Combat. It's ironic in that they tried to create a little more variety with regard to certain moves you can unlock later and such - but the actual core of the response and input latency is so much looser in SD than it is in AA/AC, that you aren't going to feel like putting in effort at any point, because it is never required.

In terms of transitions from freerunning to shooting or fighting, ehh.. it's a little forced in that you basically walk into a setpiece with a fixed camera, and you go "Oh right, this is a fighting bit". Of course this doesn't actually prevent you from committing random acts of violence.

I found the control input windows way too wide. If you want to be able to just mash to win, this is a suitable system I guess, but I prefer much tighter/more responsive control systems.

It's not a terrible game at all - but as you pointed out, the fighting IS the main focus of the game, and I simply found that to be boring.

There is a lot more of the game that it though, Car chases are very exciting and chlothing and style is quite interesting. I dont usually do very much like sidequest and such in others game but in Sleeping dogs I just cant stop buying clothes and stuff to my character a rugged chinesse cop. It gets annoying some times "hey wei! can you beat up all this guys so I can do (generic trivial task) thanks!"

Personally, I feel that if the central mechanics are solid - the fluff that surrounds them (talking to npc's, travelling, mission acquisition in general) only become hindrances to the core enjoyable experience, and in a situation where the central mechanics are LESS than solid (which is the case with sleeping dogs) that fluff simply becomes a break from the monotony.

- If you're simply torturing yourself through a game just to see the story, and the story is worse than the plot of an Uwe Boll film, you need to reassess your priorities.

Batman Arkham Asylum/City are definitely a much closer comparison to Sleeping Dogs, and in many ways they are similar, however the combat in Sleeping Dogs feels like a low-rent version of the Batman Combat.

I enjoyed the Arkham games for the "swinging around the city and generally being Batman" bits, but the combat was really uninteresting to me. The Zero Punctuation review was right on about it- the main criticism was that you're not playing a game where you actually control a character in a fight, you're watching an interactive movie where you push a button and Batman does something awesome. It's nice to watch the first few times, but ultimately gets dull.

As for me, I'm currently kicking it middle school-style with a PS1 emulator and Final Fantasy 7. I just picked up Cid, and wow did I not recognize what a textbook abusive relationship him and Shera have when I was 14. I'm also realizing I had precisely zero idea of how to actually use materia beyond "WOOO EXPENSIVE SUMMONS AND LEVEL 3 SPELLS ALL THE TIME".

Personally, I feel that if the central mechanics are solid - the fluff that surrounds them (talking to npc's, travelling, mission acquisition in general) only become hindrances to the core enjoyable experience, and in a situation where the central mechanics are LESS than solid (which is the case with sleeping dogs) that fluff simply becomes a break from the monotony.

- If you're simply torturing yourself through a game just to see the story, and the story is worse than the plot of an Uwe Boll film, you need to reassess your priorities.

I like the story the main character is quite human he shows stress, anger, sadness, doubts and better than in most videogames I have played

..you're watching an interactive movie where you push a button and Batman does something awesome.

Oh, I completely agree. The AA/AC combat system was absolutely designed from the ground up to be as automated as possible without actually operating on its own. It just so happens that Sleeping Dogs is very similar to that, it just happens to be a much worse version of it.

Assassin's Creed, Yakuza, Shenmue: These are examples of much better combat systems.

Originally Posted by RurikGreenwulf

I like the story the main character is quite human he shows stress, anger, sadness, doubts and better than in most videogames I have played